For Iraq veteran, second chance at sight, new career

Program helps injured troops find new niches after return home

Capt. Michael Liesmann teaches officers how to spot and report suspicious behavior that could be terrorism. The Operation Warfighter initiative helped him get a job with the FBI after he injured his eye in Iraq. less

Capt. Michael Liesmann teaches officers how to spot and report suspicious behavior that could be terrorism. The Operation Warfighter initiative helped him get a job with the FBI after he injured his eye in ... more

Photo: KEVIN FUJII, CHRONICLE

Photo: KEVIN FUJII, CHRONICLE

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Capt. Michael Liesmann teaches officers how to spot and report suspicious behavior that could be terrorism. The Operation Warfighter initiative helped him get a job with the FBI after he injured his eye in Iraq. less

Capt. Michael Liesmann teaches officers how to spot and report suspicious behavior that could be terrorism. The Operation Warfighter initiative helped him get a job with the FBI after he injured his eye in ... more

Photo: KEVIN FUJII, CHRONICLE

For Iraq veteran, second chance at sight, new career

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On tour in Iraq, Capt. Michael Liesmann likely picked up a superbug when he put his finger in his eye under questionable sanitary conditions.

In just five hours, a bacteria — caught between his left eye and a contact lens — germinated in a petri-dish environment as he flew an Apache helicopter in 110-degree conditions. The result was an aggressive infection that damaged two-thirds of that eye.

The unlikely ailment, which happened on Liesmann's first mission in Iraq, ended his Army Reservist career as a pilot and nearly cost him his sight in one eye.

But becoming a wounded warrior also offered Liesmann the chance to become a success in a program that employs healing veterans at federal agencies.

Through the Operation Warfighter initiative, Liesmann received a temporary assignment at FBI headquarters in Washington.

And after undergoing a cornea transplant in Houston, the former assistant principal of a Livingston junior high school now works at the agency's Bayou City office as an anti-terrorism educator for local law enforcement. He's been admitted to the Houston Police Academy, where he wants to start his own career as an officer.

"I finally came to grips with the fact that I probably won't fly again, but Operation Warfighter has demonstrated to me that I can still have a productive career," he said.

The program manager, Patrick Brick, works as a sort of matchmaker and headhunter. He spends his days exploring patients' professional ambitions, holding job fairs at hospitals and fielding calls from federal agencies with openings for temporary employees.

Diverse group

Brick said he placed about 230 people in jobs last year. He expects to increase the number by 250 this year.

Veterans are a diverse bunch, from late-teen high school graduates with no job experience outside of the military to seasoned professionals with advanced degrees.

"With the degree to which this program has expanded, folks can work with anyone they can imagine," he said.

A service member interested in veterinary medicine, for instance, was placed at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Federal fire departments have hired aspiring firefighters.

Liesmann's journey from Iraq began when he was airlifted to Germany for treatment. On the way, a liquid antibiotic concoction was dripped into the damaged eye, an excruciating experience that Liesmann credits with saving it.

Still, two-thirds of the eye was perforated. When the swelling went down and he could lift his eyelid, images refracted into a starburst.